NEW YORK, USA, 11 November 2008 – Broadcasters from Ghana and the People’s Republic of China were named the winners of the 2008 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Award in a ceremony held last night and attended by the regional finalists in the annual contest.

For the first time since establishing the award in 1994, UNICEF selected a radio broadcaster as well as a television broadcaster as the recipients.

Members of the ‘Curious Minds’ youth programme on Ghana Broadcasting Corporation accepted the radio award. “I’m very excited. I’m even short of words,” said producer Naa Aforkor Tetteh, 16. “We’re going back home and telling our friends, ‘We really made it.’”

From the finalists in television broadcasting, the China Central Television children’s channel in China was selected for its hour-long documentary ‘On the Way’, which chronicled the daily commutes to school of 20 children from across China.

Radio correspondent Femi Oke of WNYC’s ‘The Takeaway’ presents the 2008 ICDB award to Cao Ning of China Central Television for the youth-centred documentary ‘On the Way’.

“This issue is not for children only,” said producer Cao Ning. “All of us are ‘on our way’ towards the development of our goals."

‘The World We Want’The theme for the award, ‘The World We Want’, inspired programming for the 2007 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting, held last December, in over 80 countries worldwide.

“Children are the absolute priority,” said nominee Hector Lourenço, who helped produce three hours of youth programming about the needs and rights of children on Radio Pio in Angola. “That’s the slogan we came up with after we talked to children about too much violence and not enough play.”

Other regional winners included radio broadcasters from Nepal, Brazil, Iran and China. The television finalists were Channel I from Bangladesh for its feature on children with autism; Germany’s Der Kinderkanal von ARD und ZDF (KI.KA) for ‘TRICKBOXX in Arabia’; Channels Television in Nigeria; Peru’s Asociacion Nacional de Television Red TV; and Spacetoons Kids TV in Iraq.

Children’s voices on the airUNICEF launched the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting, or ICDB, in 1991 to encourage broadcasters worldwide to spread awareness of children’s issues.

Dr. Shihab Jamjoom (right) from Spacetoons Kids TV in Iraq, one of the finalists for the ICDB Award, with the Chief of UNICEF's Internet, Broadcast and Image Section, Stephen Cassidy.

“Over the years, ICDB has grown to incorporate broadcasters on every continent,” said ICDB Executive Producer Karen Cirillo. “In recent years, it has also encouraged higher levels of youth participation, which has led to many all-youth broadcasts.”

Young people participate by writing, reporting, producing and presenting programmes on the issues that affect them.

The next ICDB will take place on 1 March 2009 with the theme ‘Unite for Children: Tune in to Kids!’